Claypot Tofu is one of my all-time favourite dishes to order at any tze char stall in Singapore because of its savoury gravy that goes very well with rice. And since I’m one who loves variety, I really like the idea of having a wide assortment of ingredients (vegetables, meats and/or seafood) in one single pot.
Don’t worry if you don’t have a claypot at home. It’s not like you really need a claypot to make this dish. Just use any existing pan or wok that you have.
I chose to oven-bake the yam slices as I didn’t want to go through the hassle of frying them. Baking works just as good to make the yam tender & fluffy while firming up the exterior so they don’t fall apart when soaking in the gravy.
Depending on how salty the chicken stock already is, you can choose to omit the light soy sauce.
Claypot Tofu Recipe
Ingredients (serves 4)
2 tubes of egg tofu (300g), sliced into 1″ thick pieces
350g yam, peeled & sliced into 1/2″ thick pieces
8 large prawns, shelled with tails intact
180g roast pork belly, sliced
100g sugar snap peas
100g baby corn, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 carrot, peeled & sliced
1 yellow onion, peeled & sliced
3 slices ginger
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp light soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
few dashes of white pepper
500ml chicken stock (or dissolve 1/2 chicken cube in 500ml hot water)
corn starch solution (dissolve 2 tsp corn flour in 2 tbsp water)
Instructions
1. Toss yam slices with a tablespoon of olive oil and a pinch of sea salt. Bake in the oven at 180 deg C for 40 minutes. Alternatively, you can fry the yam till golden brown and drain on paper towels to absorb excess grease.
2. In a frying pan, brown the roast pork without adding oil as the pork fat will be rendered. Remove the roast pork and drain on paper towels.
3. Using the same pan, pan-fry the egg tofu till golden brown on both sides. Remove and drain on paper towels.
4. Heat some olive oil in a claypot (or use the same pan from Step 3 without adding extra oil) and saute the garlic, ginger and onions till fragrant.
5. Add sugar snap peas, baby corn and carrots. Stir fry for 1 minute.
6. Add chicken stock, oyster sauce and light soy sauce. Bring to a boil.
7. Add sesame oil and pepper, followed by the prawns. Cook till they turn opaque and add corn starch solution to thicken up the gravy.
8. Mix in the yam, egg tofu and roast pork. Allow to simmer for a few more minutes and serve hot with steamed rice.